How to do stripe tie dye patterns

Tie-dying is a fun and creative craft project for many different age groups. While there is the classic spiral pattern on T-shirts, there are many other types of patterns from which to choose. Stripe patterns are a great way to make your tie dye unique, and they are not anymore complicated to make than other patterns. Tie dye kits come with many colour choices, or you can make your own with procion dye and water.

Skill level:

Easy

Other People Are Reading

Things you need

Prewashed 100% cotton fabric

Rubber bands or strings

Tie dye kit with dye or procion dye in different colours

Plastic gloves

Soda ash

Water

Bucket

Squirt bottle for each dye colour

Washing machine

Funnel

Show MoreHide

Instructions

1

Roll the fabric loosely from the bottom up, making a tube shape. Tie pieces of string or loop rubber bands at different intervals across the fabric tube. The space of the intervals will change the look of the stripes. For wider stripes, space farther apart. For thinner stripes, space the strings or bands closer together. Make sure the strings or bands are tight.

White cotton T-shirts work best for tie-dying. (I feel good image by Christophe Schmid from Fotolia.com)

2

Put on plastic gloves. Mix a 1/2 cup of soda ash for 1 gallon of water in a bucket. Stir until the soda ash is dissolved. Place the garment in the soda ash mixture until saturated, squeeze out excess water. According to the How to Tie Dye website, this will make the colours of the end result much brighter. The garment can now be dyed.

Mix soda ash and water to make a fixer for the dye. (bucket image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com)

3

Mix the dye according to the package instructions if you are using a kit. If making your own dye, add one tablespoon of dye powder per 473ml of water to a squirt bottle using a funnel. Shake the squirt bottle to mix the dye.

4

Apply the dye to the shirt in any pattern to make the stripes. Let dry for 12 to 18 hours. Remove the bands and wash separately from other clothes in hot water.